Abstract

Women are invisible in mainstream analyses of the Northern Irishconflict. The prodigious literature is uninformed by gender analysis. These absenceshave discursive and material implications for tackling women’s inequality in a societyin transition from armed conflict. Feminist intersectional theory counters andcomplicates essentialist constructions of identity. It aids understanding of theNorthern Irish context by bringing into view issues of gender, sect and class. Thetentative intersectional theoretical framework developed in this article is tested in anempirical study of women’s poverty. This supports the argument that intersectionalanalysis is required if the policy approach to women’s equality in Northern Ireland isto benefit the most marginalised women and thereby improve the prospects ofbuilding a more stable and peaceable society.